17 Jan 2024 Marketing Trends: Why Authenticity Is In and Hashtags Are Out
In the exciting world of marketing, it’s crucial to keep up with the latest trends to be ahead of the curve. So, to celebrate the New Year, we’re excited to share with you our 8 favourite marketing ins for 2024 that we absolutely love and think you will too! We’ll also spill the beans on the marketing outs that we’re leaving behind in the dust of 2023.
Marketing Ins
1. Authenticity: Authenticity is important in building trust and stronger connections with your audience. Opting for a ‘raw’, pared-back approach when creating copy and content can help build trust with your audience, and differentiate yourself in the market.
2. Interactive Retail: This involves getting your consumers involved both on- and offline. It can range from interactive displays to VR depictions of your product and virtual try-ons. Interactive retail can help create a unique and engaging experience for your customers.
3. AI-Powered Marketing Tools: AI continues to evolve on the daily and is now providing marketers with opportunities to optimise processes. From analysing results to automating systems and machine learning, AI allows marketers to make more informed decisions, quicker.
4. User-Generated Content (UGC): With an increased interest in authenticity, there has been a rise in the use of User-Generated Content (UGC). Global brands such as Adobe, SKIMS, and Glossier have started leveraging UGC to add a personal touch to their brand. By incorporating UGC, brands can create a more inclusive experience for their customers and build a stronger brand community.
5. Personalisation: Personalisation in marketing involves having marketing communications directly to the individual. This can range from recommendations based on the behaviour of the audience to customised messaging based on their data. A popular example of this is Spotify’s yearly wrapped giving users a tailored look at their listening habits. Brands can utilise personalisation in their communication to create an impact on their audience on an individual level.
6. Short-Form Video Content: Accompanying the rise of TikTok and Instagram Reels, short-form video content has become a powerful marketing tool for brands to convey messages quickly whilst entertaining their audience. The ideal length for video content can range from 7 to 60 seconds depending on the platform. View Hootsuite’s breakdown here if you’d like to learn more.
7. Immersive Technology: Immersive technology like virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) allow brands to create experiences for customers to connect with.
8. SEO as Hashtags: Another useful tool is to use SEO keywords in your captions, instead of fully relying on hashtags. The social platform algorithms pick up keywords and push content to relevant users.
MARKETING OUTs
1. Heavily Filtered Social Content: While it may be tempting to use editing tools and filters to enhance your social media content, it’s important to note that this can create a disconnect between your brand and your audiences. Consumers are increasingly looking for authentic content that they can trust, and overly filtered content can be perceived as insincere.
2. Greenwashing: This refers to companies embellishing or exaggerating their positive environmental practices. Being identified as a greenwasher can quickly lead to a loss of brand trust and negative brand perception.
3. Hashtag Overuse: While hashtags can be a great way to increase your social media reach, overusing them can appear spammy. Instead of using a hundred different hashtags, opt for five impactful hashtags that are relevant to your content. This is often favoured by social media algorithms too!
4. Website Pop-ups: Website Pop-Ups can be a great way to generate leads, however when used excessively, can quickly lead to annoyance and become a barrier to converting.
5. Sacrificing UX/ UI: The customer journey has a significant impact on converting visitors to customers. Barriers in the conversion process such as multi-step conversion processes or excessive pop-ups. By focusing on UX you can help remove obstacles in the customer journey.
6. Quantity over Quality: Pushing out high amounts of content to try to keep an audience aware of your brand can lead to brand fatigue and disengagement. Instead, it’s important to put out content your audience cares about and will engage with. The key to being seen is more about consistency and regularity (whatever that looks like for your brand), than it is volume.
7. Neglecting Analytics: Analytics provide marketers with valuable insights into campaign performance and audience behaviour. By neglecting analytics, businesses miss out on opportunities to optimise their campaigns and generate learnings that can be used to improve future campaigns.
Want to stay ahead of the marketing curve?
- Check out our previous blog on Social Media Strategies for Growing Your Audience
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